Samuel L Jackson Interview

Sam always has time for tee

Samuel L Jackson is late. Ensconced in the Dorchester Hotel with the nation's press ready to meet him, he has been busy checking out the hotel's indoor golf facilities. Little surprise really, as an avid player he participates in pro-am tournaments all over the world. When he does sweep into the room he is charm personified, clad in black with his trademark Kangol cap and looks a good ten years younger than his actual age of 53. He is one of the more affable Hollywood superstars, always ready with a joke and happy to answer any question thrown at him.

He's in town to promote his new picture Changing Lanes. It's a step away from the usual cool dude roles that Jackson has cornered the market in, ever since he became an instant star on the back of Pulp Fiction. Changing Lanes sees Jackson as Doyle Gipson, a man whose marriage is breaking down and whose battle against alcoholism sees him attending daily meetings. When he has a car accident with young lawyer Ben Affleck on his way to a court hearing to save his marriage, he is forced to take action in a way that gives new meaning to the phrase road rage.

Gipson is meek, slightly oddballish and a far cry from the usual tough guy roles he chooses. His battle with alcohol must also have been an interesting challenge as Jackson had his own well-charted problems and now doesn't touch a drop. He admits the complexities of the characters drew him to the film. "The character is a bit more complex, and there is a reality base there that is very different from the fanciful world of something like Shaft. It was a bit like the days of theatre when I had to sit down and analyse my character to find out who he was and where he was going."

He also confesses that he drew on his own experiences to portray the effect alcohol has on his character's life. "I guess the worst day I have had was when I had to stand up in rehab in front of my wife and daughter and say Hi, my name is Sam and I am an addict." A couple of the scenes from the film are set in an AA class but his trickiest scene was when Doyle goes to a bar to order a whisky. "When we did the first take, the bartender grabbed a bottle and poured me a real drink and all of a sudden Jack Daniels wafted up into my nostrils and down my throat. I hadn't been that close to a drink in 12 years."